The Board of the Bank of Morocco, in its third quarterly meeting for 2023 held today on Tuesday, September 26, confirmed that national economic growth in Morocco is expected to gradually improve, reaching 2.9 percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent in 2024. This follows a slowdown in growth to 1.3 percent in 2022. The bank noted that these projections do not account for the effects of the Al Haouz earthquake and the consequences of reconstruction and recovery measures.
The Board of the Central Bank of Morocco forecasts that this improvement will result from a 5 percent increase in agricultural value added in 2023 and a 5.9 percent increase in 2024, assuming an average grain production of 70 million quintals.
Regarding non2-agricultural activities, the same source confirmed that growth is expected to slow to 2.6 percent in 2023 before accelerating to 3 percent in the following year.
Inflation is expected to continue its decline in Morocco, with the Bank of Morocco anticipating a decrease from 6.6 percent in 2022 to an average of 6 percent in 2023 and further dropping to 2.6 percent in 2024.
The Central Bank of Morocco also noted a significant decrease in inflation expectations among financial sector experts in the third quarter of 2023, attributing this to the partial impact of recent decisions, including a key interest rate hike, on monetary conditions and the real economy.
In terms of inflation trends, there has been a notable slowdown, with inflation falling from a peak of 10.1 percent on an annual basis in February to 5 percent in August. This decline is attributed to government measures, reduced external inflationary pressures, and tighter monetary policy.
The core inflation component is expected to follow a similar path, declining from 6.6 percent to 5.6 percent and eventually reaching 2.3 percent.